Andrew Solomon, The Noon Day Demon, Out of the Shadows, and Depression

The above is a presentation by Andrew Solomon, author of “The Noon Day Demon” at Beth Isreal Hospital talking about his struggle with major depression. Solomon gave the following advice to those struggling with depression during an interview with PBS.

“First piece of advice: Deal with it early. Don’t wait until it escalates out of control. Like any illness, it’s easier to treat before it becomes acute.

Second piece of advice: Find the right therapist and psychopharmacologist. Sometimes that’s one person and sometimes it’s two people; seek the best. There a lot of bad treatments and too many incompetent shrinks, so if you’re not getting better, try seeing someone else. It’s exhausting and annoying shopping around, but as in all other areas of life, there are some people who are highly skilled and others who just aren’t very good. There are also people who work well for one patient and aren’t right for another.

Third piece of advice: If you have a chronic condition, treat it in the long-term. Have the courage to stay on your meds, and don’t be tricked into thinking that brave people get better on their own. If you had lung cancer, you wouldn’t try to cure it by breathing carefully. Don’t trivialize depression. Remember that it can be fatal: A large number of depressed people commit suicide.

Fourth piece of advice: Don’t keep it all a big secret. Depression is stressful and keeping secrets is stressful. But tell people selectively and carefully. Some people can deal with it and others can’t. And get yourself a support structure. Love won’t cure depression, but it will make it a whole lot easier to tolerate.”

You can watch the PBS program, “Out of the Shadows” which featured Andrews here.